Tell Infinity Ward How You Feel

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Who you gonna call?

By Jim Reilly

Social networking has become an invaluable tool for game developers. Message boards, Facebook, and even Twitter can help provide instant feedback from players. But the team behind Modern Warfare 2 has taken it a step further.

Fans can now call or text a new feedback line to voice their concerns and feelings about the studio and its projects.

Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling told IGN the phone line will only benefit the community by attracting new users who typically never give feedback.

"Each time we opened a new avenue for fans to contact us or just leave a comment, I began noticing two things; We were attracting feedback from users who would normally never reach out to a developer, and increasing the speed at which we could identify potential issues within the community."

Modern Warfare 2 just recently received playlist updates, adding Barebones Pro and Objective Barebones Pro. Bowling said the feedback line will only continue to help plan additional content for the game.

"This was all something I wanted to ensure we were getting a lot of feedback on, from as many of our users as possible," he added. "It helps not only plan post-launch support but also get a good gauge of what we did well with Modern Warfare 2 as a whole and what we can improve on."

Bowling said the voicemail idea came about after realizing that they broadened the feedback each time they lowered the barrier for entry.

"Forums worked great for your hardcore users, Twitter is great for an even broader audience, Facebook opens it up even more," he said. "With a direct line where you can leave whatever comment you wanted essentially eliminates the barrier of entry completely and allows anyone to become a participant in the conversation."

"My approach to community relations has always been accessibility. An open voicemail, in addition to the rest of our online presence, allows just that," Bowling said. "It's about having an ear to the community and listening to as much as possible."

"That's my goal, the more we know the more the team at Infinity Ward can use when making design decisions."